When he first began the door-to-door campaigning, New explained, he felt he was intruding on people.

"I didn't want to be bothering them," he said.

"What I had to overcome in knocking on someone's door was that it's their house, it's their space, and it's their life. I thought, ‘I don't know if I'm going to get over this, knowing every time I knock on the door I'm interrupting someone else.' "

But, he said, "as I did it, I realized the large majority want to talk to you. That made it more and more comfortable. And it was enjoyable, learning about the different parts of the community."

New said one lesson he learned "is there's not a lot of difference between one part of town and another part of town."

Residents he visited across the city "all want their kids to do well," he said.

"They all want this to be a good place for their kids to be."

Another common factor "whether you're in north San Angelo or the southwest, is stress levels about taxes," he said.

New said homeowners kept telling him they wanted taxes to be "fair" and "reasonable."

And, New added, he discovered people from all parts of towns "have a lot of dogs."

"That was a big surprise to me," said New, who lives in southwest San Angelo and has four dogs.

Participating in parades was another unexpected plus, he said.

"They were something I wouldn't have thought I would really enjoy, but they were interesting and fun. I really liked walking along the street, talking to all the folks."

Talking to large groups or making speeches, something many people dread, was no problem for the former Town and Country CEO.

During his career as a corporate leader, "I've had to grow into being comfortable in working a room," he said.

New said the campaign also taught him how hard volunteers will work for a cause.

"I can't tell you how much people have done for me, making phone calls, having small parties at their homes to introduce me to their friends, walking neighborhoods, putting out signs," he said.

"People work so hard. So very hard."

Election results

The following table shows unofficial results of voting in each of the city's precincts in Tuesday's runoff election for mayor between John David Fields and Alvin New.